In Love for Real, In Love for Sirius
by fanfickerfan
Summary: Sirius isn't dead like everyone thinks he is. He's actually living at Hogwarts. After a year of watching the trio, he's in love with Hermione. But he's got some competition. Hermione sees him and everything is revealed. Almost everything.
1. Default Chapter

Well hello there! I have decided to start another story bc well I felt like it so there. It's a Sirius/Hermione fic which at first kind of freaked me out the way all the Hermione/older men fics used to but then I realized "oh that's right I'm fifteen" so I got a grip and thought of this story so I hope you like it

Disclaimer: this will be my first and last disclaimer bc good disclaimers are hard to come up with and I would like to focus on my story and not this stupid thing saying I am not getting money for this which everyone should get into their brains bc lets face it, I AM BROKE! Anyway the show must go on and go on it will so take that punk

Once again, Harry Potter, the famous "Boy-Who-Lived", was lying wide awake in his four poster. Ever since fifth year when Sirius had died, Harry would often lie awake in his bed and blame himself for his godfather's death. At first, he had hoped it was merely a disappearance, and Sirius would turn up somewhere. But, it had been almost two years, and Harry had finally let himself realize that Sirius was dead.

"God, I miss him" Harry said to the darkness surrounding him in his Head dorm. One of the many perks of being Head Boy: privacy.

Harry would still dream about that fateful night at the Ministry of Magic. He would see Bellatrix taunting Sirius and insulting him, and he would see Sirius fight bravely against his deranged family member. Harry would always wake up crying, because he couldn't help thinking about how if he had listened to Hermione, Sirius would still be alive and all would be right. Hermione had been his only real comfort when Sirius died. Ron had tried to make him feel better, but Ron wasn't very good at comforting people, in general. But Hermione, she didn't make him feel worse for not listening to her, but she stood by him and didn't ask him the bothersome questions every other Gryffindor, including Ron, had managed to ask him. Hermione had been there for him, and waited patiently for him to open up, instead of pressuring him to satisfy her curiosity. She had helped him feel a little less guilty, and she helped him to at least to be able act completely happy in public. The hardest part for Harry wasn't the guilt or the blame he placed on himself; but he missed Sirius like he had never missed anyone. Sirius was one of the best parts of his life, and now he was gone. Harry missed Sirius very much, and he knew he would miss him forever. But he didn't know that another Gryffindor was awake, also feeling guilt tear her apart.

Hermione Granger, Head Girl of Hogwarts, couldn't sleep either. She felt incredibly guilty about Sirius, but for a different reason. She had always accused him of living through Harry, and now he was dead because he tried to protect Harry. She hadn't actually told Sirius that she thought he was living through Harry, but she made sure he knew she disapproved of him. She walked around Hogwarts at night many times feeling guilty, as she was doing tonight. Now he was gone, and she never got the chance to apologize. But there was also something that she didn't know. The Azkaban escapee they all knew and missed was nowhere close to being gone. In fact, he was alive and well and living in Hogwarts. Actually, he was right behind Hermione, watching her walk about the halls.

Sirius Black was indeed alive. He had never died; he had never fought Bellatrix Lestrange; he hadn't ever been to the Department of Mysteries; he hadn't actually left 12 Grimmauld Place that night. And he had been living in Hogwarts ever since the beginning of Harry's sixth year. He liked living at Hogwarts. It was much easier for him to watch over Harry and the other two members of the infamous trio, when they didn't know or suspect that he was there. But something unexpected happened. In the process of watching the trio, Sirius fell in love...with Hermione Granger.

He had never meant to fall in love with Hermione; it just happened. Always being so close, watching her when she thought she was alone, seeing what she did and acted like when she didn't know he was around, it simply just happened. In her sixth year, he had learned how caring and good-natured she was. And her looks didn't hurt, either. She had grown so much, and she had definitely outgrown her buck toothed and bushy haired phase. She had long curly brown hair and her teeth were now normal. Her eyes, her skin, everything about her made Sirius more and more in love. He would watch her walk around Hogwarts late at night, and always wonder why she would do so. For a long time, he had tried to convince himself that he only watched her for her own safety, but eventually, he admitted to himself that he had feelings for the young Gryffindor. Sirius was very lucky that she had never noticed that he was there. If she had, everything would have been ruined. And besides, he hadn't been called "Padfoot" for nothing. He didn't have an invisibility cloak, so he had to rely on his soft steps, dog-like instincts to keep him out of trouble. If she ever happened to turn around, he would duck into a dark corner, and wait for her to look in another direction. But all he wanted to do was come out, look deeply into Hermione's amber colored eyes and tell her how much he loved her.

"Hermione" he accidentally spoke aloud.

"Who's there?" Hermione questioned, turning around to see who had spoken. Sirius wasn't quick enough this time, because he was much more mesmerized than he had ever been before, and in result, he was greeted with a very surprised Head Girl.

"Oh my God! Sir-Sirius?! Oh my God! Oh my..." Hermione said, falling into a faint. Sirius leapt to her side and caught before she hit the hard stone ground.

"Shit" Sirius whispered while picking her up and carefully taking her to the Hospital Wing.

Some while later, Sirius arrived at the Hospital Wing and immediately Madame Pomfrey came to help Hermione.

"Sirius, what happened?" she asked, leading Sirius to an empty bed.

"I'm afraid I gave her quite a fright. I guess she wasn't expecting to see me walking the halls of Hogwarts" he replied, while setting her down, even though he didn't want to let go.

"Oh dear, how are we going to explain this to her when she wakes up?"

"I'll speak to Dumbledore, but when she does wake up, don't tell her anything until Dumbledore sees her. Say whatever you want, Poppy, but don't tell her about me, ok?"

"Of course. Oh, Sirius this is bad. This is very, very bad..." Madam Pomfrey said as she left Hermione's bedside. Once the nurse was out of sight, Sirius planted a small kiss on Hermione's forehead. As he turned to leave, he looked back at Hermione and quietly said,

"I'm sorry, Hermione, you weren't supposed to know. It's for your own good. But in time, in time, my love..."

A/N: short I know but how do you like it? is it good? Is it stinky?(that's right, I'm 15) Please let me know if I should continue this story or not. I love reviews, they make me happy and you know what that means. Happy author=a lot of updating. Don't you love math sometimes? Just kidding but please please review well I'm signing out peace

Fanfickerfan

Ooh p.s.- I will explain how Sirius is alive in the next chapter if people want me to continue


	2. Dumbeldore Explains

Hey I'm back. Thanks for all the reviews! You guys are absolutely awesome i must say. I decided that even if people really hated this story, I would continue writing it bc its more fun to write this one than my other one. And im bored so there. my parents are trying to get me off the computer but i feel like updating so here we go...

Disclaimer: you'd like to think that now wouldn't you? 

Hermione woke up about three hours after Sirius left the Hospital Wing. She still was a little hazy about what happened, but she definitely remembered seeing Sirius Black, the man who was supposedly dead.

"Sirius!" Hermione yelled, struggling to get out of the sheets binding her to the bed.

"Ah, Miss Granger, you're awake. It seems that you fainted. Dear, you must remember to eat more often." Madam Pomfrey said, bringing a tray of food over to Hermione.

"What? I didn't faint from lack of food! I saw Sirius Black!" Hermione yelled, still trying to get up.

"Shhh, dear, no need to yell. And Sirius Black? Oh dear, you are very tired and not very well nourished, lay back down" Madame Pomfrey said, gently pushing Hermione back down to the bed.

"Do you think I'm stupid?!" Hermione yelled, not listening to the nurse. "I know what I saw, and I saw Sirius Black! And I definitely have been eating!"

"Miss Granger, you really should try to calm yourself. You'll only waste your energy" Professor Dumbledore said, as he entered the Hospital Wing. "Poppy, could you give us a minute?"

"Of course, Professor" Madame Pomfrey, said, dropping the try and going back to her office.

"Now, Miss Granger," Dumbledore started once they were alone, "What exactly were you doing walking about the school at night? Voldemort may be gone, but we still haven't caught all of his death eaters; there are still dangers out there."

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hermione said in a normal voice, "it's not as if I was walking around the Forbidden Forest. I was walking around the halls because I couldn't sleep. And I heard someone say my name, and I turned around and saw Sirius."

"Are you sure you saw what you saw, Miss Granger?"

"Absolutely" Hermione said firmly. The nurse could say she was tired and malnourished, but she knew better. And no one was going to tell her that she hadn't seen Sirius.

"Alright then. I have already sent Professor MacGonagall to wake Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. They need to hear this."

"Hear what?" Hermione questioned.

"You shall see. Ah, Minerva, right on time" Dumbledore said, looking over to the entrance of the Hospital Wing, where Hermione's head of house and two best friends stood.

"Professor Dumbledore, what is going on? Hermione? What are you doing in that bed?" Harry asked, sitting on the other side of Hermione's bed. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I fainted" Hermione said simply. She didn't want to tell Harry that she had seen Sirius; she thought he would only get upset at the mention of his godfather, even if he could still be alive.

"Miss Granger was given quite a fright last night when she saw something she wasn't supposed to see" Professor Dumbledore said, as Ron also sat himself by Hermione.

"Well?" Ron started. "What did you see, Herms?"

"I...I saw...I saw Sirius" Hermione said much less firmly than she had before. Harry being here, and having to hear her talk about Sirius, made her slightly nervous.

"You WHAT?!" Harry yelled, standing up. "But...but how?! He's dead!"

"Not quite" said the aforementioned man from the corner.

"Sir-Sirius?" Harry choked out, not believing his eyes.

"Sirius, glad you could join us, old boy" Dumbledore said, as if he had been expecting Sirius to visit.

"I told you! I told you I saw Sirius! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" Hermione yelled, rejoicing in the fact that she wasn't crazy.

"Oh, blimey..." Ron whispered, rubbing his temples as if he had a big headache.

"I don't believe this! You're back! How are you back?! Didn't you die?!" Harry asked, still yelling.

"This is unbelievable..." Ron said, still whispering, absolutely baffled by the turn of events.

"I knew it!" Hermione yelled again.

"You're alive!" Harry yelled again.

And Ron kept rubbing his temples whispering to himself.

Until none of them could speak. They tried to, but words wouldn't come out.

"Forgive me, but you all must try not to yell, or even talk at the same time for that matter" Dumbledore said, with his wand raised. "I will remove the silencing spell if you all promise not to talk, and let me and Sirius explain. Agreed?"

All three students nodded, slightly embarrassed that they had to be magically silenced by their headmaster. He lifted the spell and they all kept quiet, anxiously awaiting an explanation.

"Now, Sirius would you do the honors of explaining to the students just why you are here, and not dead like they thought?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sure" Sirius said, smiling quite broadly. He found the situation, although serious, a little amusing.

"Well, yes, Hermione you did see me last night, and I'm sorry if I scared you" Sirius said, looking at Hermione, trying his best not to sound loving. She didn't look offended, so he kept going, "Now, you are probably wondering, well no, I know you are wondering where I have been for the past year."

"You could say that" Harry managed to say, still in shock over seeing his godfather, alive and well.

"The truth is I never died."

Silence. Sirius had expected this, so he continued, "I never went to the Department of Mysteries, either."

"But...but we saw you, Sirius. You were there; you fought Bellatrix; you went behind the veil; you disappeared. We saw you, Sirius!" Harry said, almost going hysterical with confusion. He always thought that if he saw Sirius again, he would be overjoyed, but he was really just shocked and confused.

"No, Harry. You saw Thomas Collins there; you saw **him** fighting Bellatrix; you saw **him** going behind the veil; **you** saw him disappear. Not me."

"What?" all three students asked at once.

"What Sirius is trying to say is that he never went to rescue you" Dumbledore interjected. "That was another Order member, Thomas Collins, using the Polyjuice Potion, pretending to be Sirius."

"You mean...some other guy went behind the veil? And Sirius never left? But how did you know to send someone else?" Hermione asked, still very confused.

"That is a good question" Sirius said. "Just how did you know to send someone else, Dumbledore?"

"I knew that Voldemort wouldn't wait long to try to get Harry to go the Department of Mysteries" Dumbledore started. "And I knew that it wouldn't be hard for Voldemort to get his death eaters into the Ministry, especially since Lucius Malfoy is connected with Fudge. If Harry had gone to the Ministry and gotten into trouble, I knew Sirius would find out and try to rescue him. I couldn't risk Sirius leaving 12 Grimmauld Place, so I stopped him and replaced him with a willing Order member, Thomas Payton. Fortunately, Professor Snape had extra Polyjuice potion. Sirius has been in Hogwarts ever since."

"But sir," Hermione started, after everything Dumbledore had just said settled in her mind, "this Thomas Payton fellow, did he know that he would probably die? Why would he give his life so willingly?"

"Thomas Payton was a very elderly man who was one of the first members of the Order. He hadn't been able to do much to help ever since Voldemort returned, so he volunteered to do whatever he could to help the Order in his final months of life. So, he went to the Ministry, pretending to be Sirius. We are not sure of the significance of the veil, but we are quite sure that Thomas Payton died that night."

"But why didn't you tell us!" Harry yelled suddenly. "Here we've been mourning Sirius' death, and he's been alive and in our school this whole time! You actually looked sad about it Dumbledore! You looked me right in the eyes and told me that you were sorry Sirius was dead. Why have you been letting us suffer for a YEAR, when he has been nice and comfy at Hogwarts?!"

"Harry, calm down!" Hermione said urgently. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore and Sirius have a good reason for keeping this from us; they must've if they were going to let us be devastated over Sirius' supposed death for so long. Right, Professor?"

"While Mr. Potter, and all of you for that matter, has reason to be angry with me, we do have what we believe to be a good reason for keeping this from you. Peter Pettigrew, Lucius Malfoy, and Theodore Nott are all still in hiding. They are three of Voldemort's most devoted and dangerous supporters. Even though Voldemort is now dead, thanks to Mr. Potter's defeat of him this past summer, Lucius Malfoy still plans to carry out what Voldemort set to do: kill Harry Potter. And of course, muggle-borns and anyone who didn't support Voldemort. We know he is planning something, but we don't know what. I believed it would be easier for Sirius to trail Malfoy if no one knew he was alive. I also thought it would be easier to protect you three, Malfoy's main targets, if you didn't think or know you were being watched. I didn't want to lie to you, but it was for the good of our cause" Dumbledore said, trying to get the three young Gryffindors to understand just why he had let them grieve for a year.

"Harry, please" Sirius said, desperately, coming closer to the trio, "you have no idea how much I wanted to tell you. I hated lying to you and all I wanted to do was talk to you and explain everything. Please, please don't be mad, Harry. We finally get to talk and I don't want it to be ruined because you're mad at me. I am so, so sorry, Harry. But, it really was for the better."

"Oh, Sirius, I can't be mad at you" Harry said, standing up and hugging his godfather. Sirius visibly relaxed and hugged his godson back. The scene touched Hermione, and she realized she couldn't be mad either for being lied to. She suddenly realized just how happy she was to have Sirius back. This meant that she could apologize to Sirius for being so cold in her fifth year, and this guilt that was overwhelming could finally be let go. No more late night walks, sleepless nights, and the weight of Sirius' death had finally been lifted. This was going to be a great year for Hermione Granger.

Once Harry and Sirius ended their embrace, Sirius hugged Ron for a brief moment and moved on to properly greet Hermione. Since Hermione was in bed, it was quite hard to properly hug Sirius, but she managed it just the same. She had no idea just what this hug was doing to the former bad boy of Hogwarts.

Sirius was so happy to be able to really spend time with Harry again, and to properly get to know Hermione, not just watch her, but really know her. he knew that she hadn't really had a high opinion of him before he "died", but he hoped that she had either already changed his mind about him, or he could get her to change her mind. He didn't realize though, that he was still hugging her, much longer than he had hugged Harry and Ron...combined.

"Uh...Sirius? Are you alright?" Hermione asked, no longer embracing Sirius in return.

"Oh, yeah, sorry" Sirius said, slightly embarrassed. It was odd; back in his school days, he was calm and cool around a girl he liked, but around Hermione...he was always getting lost in thinking about her and he would forget where he was and what he was doing.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, at least for Sirius it was awkward, Dumbledore spoke up,

"You three do realize, though, that no one else can know about Sirius. Very few of the staff even knows. If Malfoy gets wind of this, he will be much more careful and harder to trace."

"I'm pretty sure I can speak for all three of us when I say we understand that this will remain a secret" Hermione said, looking at her friends for support.

"Yes, definitely" Harry said, smiling broader than he had since before Sirius died. This was a great weight lifted off his shoulders. He no longer felt guilt, he no longer was depressed, he was actually completely happy, and he hadn't felt this way in a long time.

Ron also felt very happy, and relieved. He hadn't felt the guilt that Hermione and Harry did, but having Sirius was back was very relieving. He knew that he would get his best friend back, now that Sirius had returned. It was an understatement to say that Harry hadn't been himself the past year. Sirius's death and the aftereffect of fighting and killing Voldemort had taken its toll on Harry, and Ron was happy to have his good natured, quidditch-crazy friend back to normal.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be wanting to be catching up, so I'll leave you to it" Dumbledore said, taking his leave. "But remember, you must NOT be seen by anyone. Is that understood?" They all nodded, smiling broadly, each for their own reasons.

AN: how do you like it? I was afraid that my reason for Sirius being alive was kinda...I don't know but if you didn't like it please please please tell me. I thrive on reviews and if you do or don't like something, it would help me a lot to know. I love to know what you guys think. Now review already (just kidding)


	3. A Sirius Day

I'm back fanfickers!!! Thanks for the reviews its really nice getting them and I have to apologize bc in the last chappie, I called the order member who sacrificed his life two different names. Sorry, his name is Thomas Collins not Thomas Payton. I had just read a fanfic that had a character with the last name payton in it and I was confused it was a big mess so sorry and thanks to padfootz-luvr for picking that up u da bomb!

"Okay, so I'll meet you three "Okay, it's still really early in the morning, so I think Ron and I are going after breakfast, so we can catch up?" Sirius said, heading towards the door of the Hospital Wing, not too long after Dumbledore left.

to head back to Gryffindor Tower. Unless, Hermione you want us to stay with you?" Harry said, turning his attention to Hermione.

"No, it's fine. I feel much better now, especially now that I know I'm not hallucinating" Hermione said, lightly smiling at Sirius.

Sirius' heart almost stopped beating; he loved her smile, and for once, it was directed at him.

"I'm...I'm going to...uh...go" Sirius stammered, not taking his eyes of Hermione. He hated how whenever he was around Hermione, he couldn't keep up his bad boy façade. He always ended up embarrassing himself. He made a quick exit, not daring to take a last look at Hermione, for fear of getting lost in her deep brown orbs.

"Man..."Harry said, a smile still on his face. "Sirius is back..."

"I know" Hermione replied. "It's strange isn't it? He seems so different, but the same, you know?"

"Yeah, I think it's great" Ron added. "I'm still not really over the shock of it all. I mean, all this time, he's been living right here in Hogwarts, guarding over us. Makes you wonder what he saw when we didn't know anyone was looking."

"You're right, Ron" Hermione agreed. "I wonder if he ever saw you and Lavender snogging?"

"Wh-What?!" Ron said, his ears turning a very familiar shade of red.

"Yeah, or when you and Padma Patil were going out?" Harry added. Over the past year, Ron had definitely become the ladies' man. He was still the same old Ron, just with a higher self esteem and better looks.

"You don't think Sirius actually saw me and those girls, do you?" Ron asked, his ears getting even darker.

"Don't sweat it, Ron. I'm sure Sirius wasn't interested in watching you go through most of the female population at Hogwarts" Hermione said, trying to keep a straight face. "But, you're not as bad as Malfoy. He'll snog anything in a skirt, just as long as it's pureblood."

"Actually, I think Sirius was a little more interested in you, Hermione" Ron said, definitely darkening the mood.

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione said, the smile slowly leaving her face.

"Yeah, he was acting really weird towards you Hermione" Harry said, not smiling as broadly as he was before either.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, starting to get worried. What if Sirius hadn't gotten over her coldness towards him in fifth year?

"Well, he hugged you longer than me or Ron and he was smelling your hair" Harry said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"What?! He was not" Hermione said incredulously.

"That's what it looked like to me" Ron said, also looking uncomfortable.

"But it doesn't really matter, does it?" Harry said, smiling widely again. "I mean, we have Sirius back. So he may be a little off, but wouldn't you be if you couldn't be out during the daylight and talk to your friends for more than a year?"

"That's true" Hermione said in agreement, still feeling slightly uneasy. "Yeah, it really doesn't m-"Hermione started to say it didn't matter that Sirius was acting weirdly, but she was interrupted by a big yawn.

"Oh, Hermione! It's five o'clock in the morning! You must be exhausted!" Harry said concernedly.

"No, I'm f-ahhhh-ine" Hermione said, trying her best to cover her second yawn.

"Good night, Herms" Ron said, kissing the brunette's cheek. "Get some sleep; but don't sleep through breakfast, okay?"

"Okay" Hermione said, managing not to yawn. "Bye, you guys."

"Bye" Harry said, also kissing her goodbye before exiting the Hospital Wing.

But, Hermione did sleep through breakfast. In fact, she slept all day. She got the first really good sleep ever since Sirius died, and her subconscious didn't want to cut it short. But while she slept the day away, Harry and Ron did go to visit Sirius in the third highest tower of Hogwarts.

"Tell me, again, why Sirius couldn't...just come to your Head Room, and we...had to hike...up to his room...in one of the highest towers...of Hogwarts!" Ron yelled breathlessly.

"I know; but it would have been...risky. Someone...might have...seen" Harry said, much in the same way as Ron.

But once they got where Sirius had been staying for the past year and were talking with him, they both decided it was worth the hike.

"So, uh, where's Hermione?" Sirius asked, after two or three minutes of friendly conversation.

"Sleeping, probably" Ron said. "She was barely awake when we left. She said she would get up; but I guess it was too much for her."

"She deserves some rest, I guess, I mean, after being up all night and finding out about me. Must've been quite a lot to handle in one night" Sirius said, barely able to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"What was going on between you and Hermione this morning, Sirius?" Harry asked. He couldn't have possibly made that question any more blunt than that.

'Damn' Sirius thought. He was hoping that no one had noticed his strange behavior. But of course Harry, future Auror, would have picked up something.

"Nothing, I just spaced out for a minute" Sirius said, not too convincingly. "But, I'm sure that wasn't the only question you had in mind for this little visit, hmm?" Sirius asked, trying to change the subject and hoping Ron and Harry were just as curious as Hermione.

"Right" Ron said. "So, Sirius, what have you been doing besides protecting us and chasing Pettigrew and Malfoy?"

'Thinking about Hermione' Sirius thought before answering, "Meeting with Dumbledore and Remus, and other Order members who know I'm alive."

"Who else knew about you, Sirius?" Harry asked. Sirius could tell that Harry was still a tad bit hurt that no one had told him that Sirius was alive.

"Not many others, Harry. Just Snape, McGonagall, Mad-Eye, the Weasleys, and Tonks. I really wanted to tell you, both of you, but it was for the best. I know I keep on saying that, but it's the truth. You aren't even supposed to know now" Sirius said apologetically.

"Wait, my parents knew?!" Ron said. "Blimey, they made a whole show of being really upset about it. And to think, they knew all along."

"Ron, your parents are very important members of the Order; they had to know" Sirius said.

"Sirius, I just can't believe you're back" Harry said, smiling. "And if you do catch Pettigrew and Malfoy, will you come out of hiding and will your name be cleared?"

"Dumbledore and I haven't really gone that far yet, but most likely, my name will not be cleared"

"What?!" Harry and Ron said together.

"But, they have to let you off! If you catch Malfoy and Pettigrew, you'd be doing the Ministry a favor!" Harry said, not believing Sirius could still be considered a convicted killer, especially when everyone thought he was dead.

"Well, as long as Fudge is in power, I am Sirius Black, number one supporter of Voldemort" Sirius said, as if it were nothing. "But, we don't have to worry about that just yet. I still have to actually find Malfoy and Pettigrew, and anyone else they have gathered and persuaded to follow them."

"You mean, Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew aren't the only death eaters on the loose?" Ron asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Voldemort had many followers, and they weren't all in Britain. They are scattered all over the place. You must remember, Voldemort didn't just want England, he wanted the world. So now, Malfoy plans to take Voldemort's place, and Pettigrew plans to help."

"Man, right when you think you're safe and everything's over..." Harry started.

"Harry, I know you must be feeling like killing Voldemort wasn't good enough because we didn't get Malfoy, but that was a big step in protecting the magical and Muggle communities" Sirius said reassuringly. He could tell that Harry was feeling as if everything he had done had been for nothing.

"Enough about Voldemort, he's gone and we have better things to do than talk about a dead psycho" Ron said, without flinching. Once Voldemort was gone, Ron had no problem saying or hearing the Dark Lord's adopted name.

"Here, here" Harry said in agreement. "No more Voldemort."

Harry and Ron spent the whole day in Sirius' quarters, talking and laughing, catching up, and doing everything anyone would do if one of their greatest friends returned. Harry and Ron told Sirius what it was like fighting Voldemort and his death eaters when they were only 16; Sirius told them more about his years at Hogwarts, and they each shared different things that they had been doing in the past year. All three of them had never been happier and weren't ready for the day to end. But, it was at dinner time when Harry and Ron decided they really needed to check on Hermione.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, so we can come back up with Hermione, if you want" Harry said, as he reached the door.

"Yes, that'll be great. She can tell me story concerning the War" Sirius said. He had always wondered where Hermione had been when Harry was fighting Voldemort. Of course, Sirius had been there, watching. He was always mad that Dumbledore hadn't allowed him to help out; he could only sit and wait and watch while Harry fought Voldemort and Ron fought other Death Eaters. But he had never seen Hermione.

"Er, Sirius?" Ron started looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Yes, Ron?"

"You should be careful in talking to Hermione about the War."

"What? Why?" Sirius asked.

"Some things happened and no one really knows if she's recovered."

"What do you mean? What things?"

"Well..."

A/N: yes I know that was mean and sorry it took forever to update I just had a lot of tryouts and stuff to do so I didn't have a lot of time to write but here it is and I hoped you liked it. peace out


	4. A Deep, Dark Secret

well whaddya know? I'm back! i know i left this story with a cliffhanger for like four months but there was a whole bunch of stuff going on that i had to deal with and now its all FINALLY blown over so i can come back to my story. im still gonna continue my other one but since this is one is very small i decided to come back to it first. and if its crap, im begging you guys to give me a break bc i havent written in a while and im trying to get back into the flow of this story so bear with me. Anyway on with the show…

"Well, I'm actually not too sure I should be telling you this, Sirius…" Harry said uneasily, "She's still kind of sensitive about what happened…"

"What? What happened!" Sirius asked, desperately, fearing the worst.

"Well, she…she…" Harry started, looking to Ron for help.

"Well, when Voldemort did finally come face to face with the Ministry, Hermione was at home with her family" Ron interjected, seeing his friend's discomfort.

"So? What's so bad about that?" Sirius almost whined, desperate for information that Ron and Harry weren't giving him.

"Well, when we got news that Voldemort had revealed himself, the first thing we did was go to Hermione and make sure she was safe and knew what was going on..." Ron said, now just as uncomfortable as Harry. "And when we got there...no one was home."

"What!" Sirius yelled, standing up, not believing his ears. He had always been comforted in knowing that Hermione was safe and far away from the magical world during the last battle, and now, he realized she might not have been safe at all. "Well, where the hell was she!"

"At first, we didn't know. She could have been out with her parents or away for the week, or anywhere. Nothing in her house looked out of place. Everything seemed fine; nothing was disturbed. Crookshanks was asleep on the floor in her room, and everything else was perfectly untouched. It was almost too perfect, even for Hermione" Harry said. "Then we found the note that explained it all."

"Harry, no..." Sirius said quietly, hoping against hope that the note Harry had found was written by anyone but...

"Yes, Sirius, they found her. We don't know how they found her, but they did" Harry said, obviously very upset about what he was telling Sirius. "Voldemort sent his death eaters to capture her and her parents. They didn't destroy anything, and nothing was different about the house. Except that note. I remember what it said even now. 'May her death precede your own.' I will never forget that note."

"How...how long..." Sirius started.

"We found out later that they had held her captive for days before we decided to check up on her. As if they knew the first thing we would do when Voldemort revealed himself was protect her. They knew that would be our only reason for seeing her" Ron said, his more than apparent guilt weighing heavily upon him. "They knew."

"We knew that they must have been keeping her at a death eater hideout, so Snape helped us find her. She was at Malfoy manor...we barely recognized her..."

"What...what did they..." Sirius said, closing his eyes as head spun.

"I can't even say it..." Harry said, dejectedly. He would forever beat himself up for letting his best friend get raped, for letting Lucius Malfoy be the one to take her virginity.

"One of those bastards raped her, didn't they?" Sirius said. "Which one?"

"Lucius Malfoy" Harry said in a barely audible voice, for he knew just how much Sirius hated that man. Sirius didn't respond. He just sat back down and put his head in his hands.

"They killed her parents, too" Ron said, breaking the silence that had come over the room. "Right in front of her eyes. I think she felt worse about that, than about anything else they did to her."

"Why didn't Dumbledore tell me?" Sirius asked quietly, his first full sentence in five minutes.

"Because Dumbledore had faith, when we all had lost it" Harry said, his voice dripping with regret and guilt. "He knew somehow that it wouldn't destroy her. So, we took her to St. Mungo's and never spoke about it again. Ron and I are the only students who know what happened. Most of the teachers don't even know."

Sirius stayed silent for a long time. He couldn't even try to begin to take in what Harry and Ron had just told him. Hermione was raped, and not just by any sick pervert, but by one of the people Sirius hated most in the world. She was degraded by a man who was still free, a man who was living somewhere, undoubtedly plotting to attempt to ruin their lives again. Lucius Malfoy.

"Sirius?" Harry asked, unable to bear the eerie silence.

"I just can't believe this. She always seemed fine after the war ended. I never would have guessed that...that she had experienced... all that" Sirius said. "I should have been there; I should have protected her. Instead, I went after Bellatrix just to get revenge for all the awful things she had put me through when I was younger...I should have been there" Sirius said, looking at his feet, now being plagued by the same guilt that Ron and Harry had felt and were still feeling.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now" Harry said, trying to shake off his guilt, and convince himself that the rape of his best friend wasn't his fault. "You just have to keep telling yourself that".

"Should we not have told you, Sirius?" Ron asked.

"No...no, it's good you told me" Sirius said, sitting down. "This is just a lot to take..."

"Well, there's the understatement of the century" Harry said, trying to bring whatever was left of the happy mood back to the room.

"Harry, maybe we should check on Hermione, now" Ron said, uncomfortably.

"Yeah, you're right" Harry said back. "Sirius, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to think" Sirius said, lightly smiling. He wasn't going to have his godson and his best friend worrying about him. "I'm really glad we got to catch up today."

"Me, too, Sirius" Harry said, hugging his godfather goodbye. "And, it would probably be best if you didn't mention this little chat to Hermione."

"I wouldn't dream of it" Sirius said with a smile.

"Glad to have you back, Sirius" Ron said, shaking his hand.

"You have no idea how good it is to be back."

A/N: so...? I know its not that good but gimme a break. I just wanted to do something with this story before SIX MONTHS went by so here it is. please review even if you thought it was awful...it will really help me get back into the swing of things


	5. A Sirius Mistake

**i'm back again. hope this chap is better and thanks for all the reviews. they were really nice and helpful. oh and p.s. thanks for sticking with this story oh and another p.s. i promise not to do the whole sirius/serious thing in my title anymore it was just too hard to resist **

anywhoozlebees on with the show...

"Sleep well, Hermione?" Ron said, as he sat down on the couch in the Heads' Common Room.

"Quite well, thank you Ronald" Hermione said, smiling. She was the most refreshed and well-rested that she had ever been for more than a year.

Harry and Ron had gone to the Hospital Wing, only to find that Hermione had already gone back to her dorm. When they arrived at the Heads' Dorms, they found Hermione on the floor, working on the latest two rolls of parchment potions assignment.

"How was your day with Sirius?" Hermione asked, not taking her eyes of her essay, but still very curious about what the three Gryffindors had talked about.

"It was great" Harry said, smiling for the hundredth time that day. "We caught up on almost everything."

"Yeah, and he didn't even seem like he knew about all my old girlfriends!" Ron said, smiling enthusiastically. "So you worried me for nothing, Herms."

"That's weird. You were very hard to miss when you were going out with Padma, Parvati, Lavender...shall I go on?" Hermione said, also smiling.

"Point taken" Ron said, as he got up to venture into the small kitchen that Harry and Hermione shared.

"Ron, stop raiding the cupboards" Harry said, as he saw Ron wolf down leftover candy from Hogsmeade.

"Oh bugger off, Harry" Ron said, after he managed to swallow the sweets.

"Ron, I said get out of the cupboards, mate. The supply isn't endless, like your stomach."

"And I said, bugger off" Ron said, popping a chocolate frog in his mouth, to emphasize his point.

"Now, you're just looking for a fight" Harry said, getting up from his present position to tackle Ron.

Hermione laughed as she watched her two best friends wrestle each other in the kitchen. It may have been just a dumb boy thing, but Hermione could tell by Harry and Ron's laughter that things would be getting a lot better.

The next morning, Hermione, Harry, and Ron were sitting in the Great Hall eating a particularly delicious weekend breakfast when a school owl dropped a letter in front of Harry. Instinctively, Ron and Hermione leaned over to read what the letter said and who it could be from.

"Dear Harry, Ron, and Hermione,

I can't meet with you right after breakfast today. Dumbledore has discovered some information on Malfoy and I won't return until after noon. But I will have all the time in the world after I complete my assignment. Have a good morning!

Love,  
Padfoot"

"I wonder what the assignment is" Ron said, swallowing a large gulp of pumpkin juice.

"I hope it's not dangerous" Hermione said, concerned. They had only just gotten Sirius back, and she didn't want to think about him on a dangerous mission.

"I'm sure he'll be fine" Harry said, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket.

But Sirius wasn't fine. When the trio had gone back up to Sirius's dorms, sure he would be back already, to spend some time with him, every room was empty. Harry, Hermione, and Ron, though confused, decided not to worry.

"I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow" Harry said, as they went back to Gryffindor Tower.

Once again, Harry was wrong. Sirius wasn't back the next day. Or the day after that. When Sirius was missing for a week, the three Gryffindors were finally convinced that something was definitely not right.

Harry had decided that the only way they could know what was going on was to talk to Dumbledore.

Fortunately for Hermione and Harry, they knew the password to the statue guarding Dumbledore's office and didn't have to wait for a teacher to pass by and let them in. Before any one of the trio had the chance to knock, Dumbledore's voice could be heard on the other side.

"Come in."

The three looked at each other and shrugged before stepping into Dumbledore's office. When they entered, they saw the faces of Professors MacGonagall, Snape, and Lupin staring back at them.

"Where is he?" Harry asked, somewhat rudely, as soon as he saw most of the key members of the Order just happened to be in Dumbledore's office.

"I think what Harry means to say," Hermione interjected, glaring at Harry for his rudeness, "is Sirius okay, and if not, what can we do to help?"

"In truth, we don't know where Sirius is or if he is safe" Dumbledore said, calmly.

"What do you mean you don't know!" Harry yelled. "Well, why the hell are we sitting here doing nothing! Why aren't we out there looking for him!"

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron said the same time.

"Mr. Potter, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down" Dumbledore said, still speaking with a strange level of calmness. "We must make a plan; we can't afford to act rashly."

"Fine" Harry said stiffly, but his voice was no longer raised.

"Very well" Dumbledore said, turning his attention back to the professors. "What we do know is that Sirius was in Paris when he went missing. What we don't know, is what he was doing there."

"Wait, Headmaster" Hermione started, "didn't you send him on an assignment? How could you not know why he was in Paris, assuming that that was the assignment?"

"Miss Granger, I'm afraid you are mistaken" Dumbledore said. "A rare occurrence, indeed."

"But, Headmaster!" Harry said, standing up and taking the letter Sirius had sent them out of his robes. "It says right here that you sent him on an assignment!" Harry handed Dumbledore the letter that Sirius had sent him. Dumbledore took the letter, and as he read it, his eyes widened.

"I fear, Mr. Potter, that your godfather is in more danger than we thought."

"What makes you say that?" Ron asked.

"I never sent this letter. I went to the Ministry of Magic almost immediately after you three learned of Sirius being alive."

"Oh no" Hermione said quietly. "Butt...but I thought no one else knew about Sirius?"

"Unfortunately, we were mistaken" Professor Snape said.

"So, did the deatheaters we haven't caught yet do this?" Ron asked, finally understanding what was going on.

"I'm afraid that is a very big possibility" Professor McGonagall said. "But we don't know anything for sure."

"You're all acting as if this isn't an urgent problem!" Harry said, yelling again. "This is a human being we're talking about! And not just any human being, but my godfather!"

"Harry," Professor Lupin started, "we all care about Sirius, and understand that you're worried. But we can't act rashly; it will only make things worse. We must make a plan of action first, and we can only do that if we acquire more information about where Sirius might be. We must remain calm, and hope for the best."

"Well, excuse me, if I'm not willing to sit around and wait and see if something might turn up. Sirius doesn't have that kind of time, and I'm not willing to take that chance."

And with that, Harry left Dumbledore's office, soon followed by Ron and Hermione.

"What are we going to do, Harry?" Ron asked, as soon as they were back in the Heads' common room.

"No, Ron, no 'we'. I have to find Sirius, and I'm not going to put you guys in danger."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous Harry" Hermione said. "You know we won't let you go and get Sirius all by yourself. Remember what we promised last year?"

Harry realized that Hermione was right. The three had promised last year that they would always stick together, no matter what. Whether it was fighting Voldemort, or getting potions assignments done, they were in this together.

"You know she's right, mate" Ron said. "We care about Sirius, too. And we won't miss out on another chance to get some more deatheaters."

"I know, but we have to do something fast."

"Yes and the best time to make a plan is after enjoying a hearty meal" Ron said, getting up, and getting ready to go to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Ron, do you think about anything other than food?" Hermione asked, as she, too, stood up.

"Occasionally."

Lunch was a quiet event. All three of the Gryffindors were thinking about where Sirius could be, and what they could do to get him back. Even Ron wasn't making much noise as he wolfed down all of his food.

"Mail's here" Hermione said, breaking the silence between the three. They each watched as owls swooped down to different students, giving them their mail, and waiting for a treat. Harry seemed particularly interested in the owl that flew down to Draco Malfoy. Harry watched as Malfoy opened the letter and his reaction to whatever it was he was reading. Malfoy's eyes widened and he smirked his trademark smirk that made girls melt and Harry furious.

Malfoy then looked up at Harry, still smirking. Malfoy silently mouthed the words 'You lose', before getting up and leaving the Great Hall.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, noticing that Harry had become somewhat dazed. "Harry, what are you looking at?"

"What?" Harry said with a start. "Oh, nothing."

"Well," Hermione spoke again, deciding not to push Harry for an honest answer, "I'm going to go to the Library, and catch up on some reading. See you two later." Hermione left, before she could see Harry leaning over and whispering to Ron.

After, accidentally, spending the whole day in the library, Hermione went back up to the Heads' dorms, only to find Harry and Ron wearing their robes, and getting ready to go outside.

"Hey what's going on?" Hermione asked. "Where are you going?"

"Now, Hermione don't be mad..."Ron started, before Harry interrupted him.

"We have a plan."

**A/N: wow i am really mean. oh well. okay well you know what to do (and if you don't...REVIEW!)**


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